AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY CHANGE FOR SOCIETY WITH MISS OPEYEMI ADESANYA ON THE ISSUE OF SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH BRIDGE – D- GAP INITIATIVE

Bridge – D- Gap initiative is an educative mentor-ship group, established to improve child, adolescent and youth development through practical training and technical workshops addressing basic transitional issues encountered by young individuals during puberty. Our duty is to educate and empower young individuals with information that will inspire them to make positive and productive decisions in life.

• To empower adolescents intellectually and emotionally.
• To educate adolescents on the prevalence and prevention of Sexual abuse.
• To help teenagers, struggling with basic transitional changes to manage puberty more effectively.
• To promote gender equality in Nigeria.

The vision of the initiative is mainly to improve adolescents of this generation because it is believed that they are the leaders of tomorrow.

Bridge – D- Gap Initiative was birthed on the 14^th of February 2014 by Opeyemi Adesanya. Opeyemi is a graduate of International Law and Diplomacy from Babcock University, Nigeria. This vision was triggered by Opeyemi’s life experiences as a child. While growing up, she was a victim of verbal assault which resulted to extreme low self-esteem. After much work done, she was able to pull through the hurdles of the then trauma  and is determined to make sure no other child in Nigeria goes through the same things she passed through and even beyond.

Bridge – D- Gap in partnership with other initiatives like Human Development Initiative, Project Alert, has since been able to establish and mend Parent- Children relationships, Teacher- Student Relationships. It has been able to sensitize parents, teachers and students (Through PTA meetings) on problems that affect the present day child and how they can be solved. Bridge – D- Gap initiative has settled several marital disputes between couples; it has brought to book perpetrators of Sexual assaults, Violence against women and child abuse. The initiative has also helped broken adolescents build their emotions and have their lives back on track. It has provided answers to frequent questions often asked by adolescents of this age, thereby rescuing those going through the same issues. Orphanage Party Movie Show and Walk for Orphans which took place in Calabar, Cross River are part of the projects this initiative has embarked upon.

Although, at the early stages, the initiative encountered difficulties in areas like fund raising, schools acceptance to sensitize the students and most of all convincing parents on the right way to communicate with their children; but as time passed, Project experiences and results were documented and published, giving targets proofs of the effectiveness of projects.

In no distant future, Bridge – D- Gap will be working towards reviewing the Nigerian Constitution and breaking it down to cartoons for children and adolescents to know and understand their rights as citizens of Nigeria.

Bridge – D- gap has since inception carried out over 10 projects, influencing over 12,000 adolescents both in Lagos and Cross River States.

This is a just cause for Social Change in Nigeria and Opeyemi, through Bridge – D- Gap Initiative, is determined to make the younger generation better than the former.

You can read more on the Organisation’s Vision Mission and Value (VMV) here

WILL YOU BE THE NEXT CHANGE?